Hoskins ‘excited' about city's core

HOSKINS

Just weeks into his job as the province's economic development minister, Eric Hoskins made a trip to Hamilton Friday to scope out how the city is doing business-wise.

He knows it well. The Liberal MPP and his wife, Dr. Samantha Nutt — both physicians and co-founders of War Child Canada — lived in Hamilton while studying at McMaster University in the 1980s.

“As a guy who did live here in the '80s and the '90s, seeing the downtown core being developed and transformed like this is really exciting,” he said after a meeting with the Chamber of Commerce Friday afternoon.

The round table discussion included representatives from a number of local industries including energy, transportation, steel and the arts.

“There was more voice time for our members than the politicians,” said chamber president and CEO David Adames.

“It was a fantastic conversation … it was great to have him so shortly after (being appointed).”

In her throne speech Tuesday, new Liberal Leader and Premier Kathleen Wynne cited economic growth and job creation as two of the party's top priorities moving forward. As minister of economic development, trade and employment, Hoskins said he will be at the centre of those efforts.

And he insists that Hamilton will continue to be a priority for the government.

His visit Friday allowed him to “take a closer look at some of what Hamilton's been able to achieve and see if we can replicate it (elsewhere), and also what lessons we can learn,” he said.

It's part of the new Liberal government's commitment to partnering with local community leaders and businesses.

Ted McMeekin, MPP from Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale and newly appointed minister of community and social services, said he and Hoskins will be “like ying and yang” working together throughout the next term to tackle the significant challenges the city is still facing.

Currently, there are 26,000 people without jobs here. Hoskins said it will be crucial to strike a balance between investing in retraining and new innovation.

McMeekin said he personally knows the importance of second opportunities.

“Mohawk is the number one community college in all of Ontario, tagged with retraining and skills development. As a high school dropout who went back to college, Mohawk College was a second chance for me to start my life again,” McMeekin said.

Neither offered any tangible plans for job creation.

“Sometimes that means government getting more involved, but sometimes that means stepping out of the way, or reducing the regulatory burden to make it easier for the private sector to do their jobs and create jobs,” Hoskins said.

“We're a new government. And being minister … for just over a week … it's really important (right now) for me to listen and learn,” he said.